


Surrounded by Suspects

by Pisces_writings



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Murder Mystery, POV First Person, Poisoning, Stabbing, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pisces_writings/pseuds/Pisces_writings
Summary: Virgil lives in a locked house with five other boys. No one can enter, and no one can leave. For them it was a happy life. It's amazing how much things can change in one day.
Comments: 35
Kudos: 74





	1. A Sudden Change

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fanfic I've ever writen.   
> Have fun.

My name is Virgil. I lived with five other boys in a locked house. 

The windows were barred, and we had never gone outside. We had been here since we were born and we didn't know why. We were raised and taught by the house's artificial intelligence and our food appeared in the cupboards and fridge overnight. We learned not to question it. 

At first we only had a number and a letter as a name, but later we chose our own. 

The oldest of us was M1. He was only a year older than me, the youngest. He eventually chose the name Patton. After him were the twins. Originally they were C2 and C3, but chose the names Roman and Remus. They had originally wanted to be called Romulus and Remus, after the twins in the ancient Roman myth, but then were reminded that in the story Romulus had murdered Remus before founding Rome. After that, they decided against it. After the twins came D4. He chose to be called Deceit for reasons unknown. After him was L5, who chose the name Logan, and then me. 

I was A6, originally. As I already said, I picked the name Virgil. 

It was the 15th of July. I walked into the kitchen to find Patton making breakfast. His curly hair was a mess, as usual, and his grey cardigan was hanging around his shoulder. I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. 

"You realize you don't have to make breakfast every day, right?" I told Patton. "The rest of us could handle it." 

He smiled at me, "Good morning to you too. And I told you already, I don't mind! It's fun!" 

I rolled my eyes, "You could still let us help." 

He shrugged and went back to cooking. 

I looked at him for a moment, something seemed different. 

"Where are your glasses?" 

He laughed, "I have no idea." 

I sighed and sat down at the table. Of course he'd lost them again. 

A few minutes later Logan walked into the room. Somehow, his hair and clothes were always neat. I had no idea how.

"Good morning." He said to both of us. Then he walked over to Patton and handed him something. 

Patton smiled and turned to me, "Virgil look! He brought my glasses!" 

I turned to Logan, "Why do you have them?" 

Logan poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from me, "He left them in Romans room and Roman thought they were mine so he gave them to me." He explained. 

"Wow." 

"Good morning." 

I looked up to see Deceit standing next to me. 

I smiled, "Hi." 

Logan nodded at him and Patton waved from the stove. 

Deceit turned to Logan, "Did you finish the coffee or is there still more?" 

"There's more!" Patton called from the kitchen. 

Deceit nodded and walked over to him. Logan and Deceit were the only ones who drank coffee. It gave Roman and Remus too much energy, so they were banned from it, and it was too bitter for me and Patton. I glanced over at Deceit. His eyes were two different colors, the right one was dark brown while the other was a startling yellow. On the same side he also had a large birthmark that started at his eye and covered almost the entirety of his cheek. Roman liked to call that the interesting side of his face.

Suddenly, there was a crash when Remus fell into the room from a ceiling vent. He stood up and brushed himself off, pieces of plaster clinging to his hair. 

"I'm here!" He announced. 

Patton rushed over to him, "Are you okay? What were you doing up there?" 

"I was exploring!" He said. 

Patton shook his head and muttered something. Then he rushed back to the kitchen. 

"Hey Logan." Said Remus winking at him. 

I turned to Logan in confusion, "Why did he- "

Logan shook his head, "I have no idea." 

Remus then proceeded to wink at everyone else in the room. 

Deceit smirked, "Something wrong with your eye, Remus?" 

Remus stuck out his tongue at him, "Something wrong with your mouth, Deceit?"

Deceit looked extremely confused, "No. What does that have to do with anything?" 

Remus winked at him again and walked into the kitchen. 

Logan put his head in his hands, "It is too much to ask for some peace and quiet around here?" 

I nodded, "Definitely." 

"Breakfast is ready!" Patton called from the kitchen. 

He came out carrying a heaping plate of pancakes. Remus grabbed one from the top and sat on the counter to eat it. 

"Remus," chided Patton, "take a plate." 

Remus shook his head and continued eating. Logan got up and went to the kitchen to get plates and silverware. He handed them out to us and sat down. 

He glanced around, "Where's Roman?" 

Remus jumped up, "I'll get him!" 

I stood up, "No you won't." Last time Remus had woken Roman up it hadn't gone well. "I'll get him." 

I walked to Roman's room. It had a sign on the door that Roman had painted himself. He had insisted on making them for all of us. His was a red shield with yellow designs. 

I knocked. No answer. 

"Roman?" I called. Again no answer. 

I sighed, he was always sleeping late. He probably stayed up drawing again. 

"I'm coming in." I called. 

I walked in and looked out over the mess before me. He really couldn't clean up his room once in a while? There were pencils strewn across the floor, paint splatters on the rug, and a hot glue gun on the desk that had probably been plugged in for three days. I walked over to the bed and shook him awake. 

"Roman, get up." I said. 

He rolled over, "No." 

I crossed my arms, "Do you want me to get Remus?"

He sat up, "You wouldn't." 

"I would. Now get up." 

He sighed and got out of bed, "There. Are you happy you emo nightmare?" 

I shrugged, and walked to the door. "Don't take too long." I told him. Then I left, closing the door behind me.

Half an hour later Roman walked into the dining room. 

"The prince lives." Said Logan, not looking up from his book.

"Pat made pancakes!" Said Remus.

Roman laughed, "Let me guess, he didn't let anyone help him."

"Yup!" Said Remus. "And they're great with ketchup." 

Roman looked disgusted, "Ketchup?"

Remus nodded, "Yes." 

Roman shook his head in disbelief. Needless to say, he didn't take the ketchup. 

After we had all finished eating Logan started to collect our plates. The rest of us quickly jumped up to help.

After we were done, Logan turned to us. "Alright, it's time to study."

"It's summer, Logan!" Roman complained. "Don't we get a break?" 

Deceit and I exchanged exasperated looks. They had this argument almost every morning. 

"You can take a break if you want." Said Logan. "But don't complain when you fall behind."

"Come on Logan." Said Patton. "I think we all deserve a break." 

Logan didn't say anything for a moment. Then he sighed, "Maybe you're right."

"Oh, come on." Said Roman. "You listen to him and not me?"

"Yes." 

Roman looked offended. 

Deceit laughed, "Well since Logan's decided to take a break, perhaps we should all do something together." 

Patton's face brightened, "That's a great idea! What should we do?"

"Monopoly?" Suggested Logan.

Everyone groaned. Except for Deceit, who's smiled. 

"Perfect." He said. "I'm sure I can beat you this time." 

Logan raised an eyebrow, "That remains to be seen."

As usual, Logan won. 

Deceit crossed his arms, "I demand a rematch." He said.

Roman groaned, "Please, no. I don't think I could sit through another game." 

"Yeah me neither." Said Remus. He picked up a card and bit it.

Patton calmly took it from him, "So what should we do?" He asked.

"Watch a movie?" Suggested Roman.

I sighed, "Let me guess, Disney." 

Roman nodded enthusiastically, "I want to rewatch Tangled." 

Logan sighed, "Again?"

"Come on, Logan, it'll be fun!" Said Patton. 

Logan shrugged, "Alright." 

Roman turned to me, "You're seeing this, right?"

I started putting away the cards, "He always listens to Patton. I don't know why you're surprised."

Roman pouted, "He never listens to me." 

After we had finished the movie all of us went back to our rooms. I sat on my bed, picked up a book that Logan had lent to me, and began to read.

* * *

The day passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was six in the evening. 

That's when I heard a knock on my door. 

I heard Deceit's voice from outside, "Meet me in the dining room." He said. 

I put down my book and headed to the dining room. Everyone was already there except. . .

"Where's Patton?" I asked. 

Deceit didn't meet my eyes. "You'll see." 

He led us down a set of stairs and to a door. 

He turned to us, "I was looking for Patton and. . . " He trailed off. "Well, come on." 

Then he opened the door and stepped inside.

I froze. 

I heard Logan gasp. 

I slowly walked forward and knelt next to the body in front of me. It was Patton. There could be no mistake. He was lying in a pool of blood, his eyes wide. There was a bloody metal rod on the floor next to him. 

I felt tears start to form in my eyes. I heard Remus sit on the floor next to me and begin to cry. 

"He's dead." I heard him say quietly. 

_ No. He can't be dead. Right? He can't be. . .  _

Remus interrupted my thoughts. "Who could have killed him?" 

_ So he is dead.  _

Logan seemed lost in thought. Then he looked up at us.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" He said. "No one can come into the house and no one can leave. It had to be one of us."

We stared at him. Roman was the first to speak. 

"One of us?" He asked. "But who? Which one of us would want to kill Patton?"

"That's what we'll have to figure out." Logan sighed, then looked at the body in front of us. "Starting now, we're all suspects." 


	2. Accusation And Denials

The five of us were sitting at the dining table. We had decided to burn Patton's body, there was nothing else we could do with it. And now we were discussing who the killer could be. I looked around at the people in front of me. Roman was crying, Remus was hugging one of Patton's sweaters that he had taken from his room, Logan was staring at the table, and Deceit looked scared. I'd never seen him look scared before. 

Logan pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, "Let's go over our alibis. I'll start- "

"Shut up, will you?!" Roman yelled. 

Logan stared at him. 

Roman froze and put his head in his hands, "I'm sorry." He sobbed. "It's just. . . Patton's dead. And you're treating it like one of your mystery novels! It seems like you don't even care that he's gone." 

Logan stared at the piece of paper in his hands. "I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean it that way. You know that I'm not good at dealing with these things, so I'm playing to my strength, and that's my brain." 

Deceit put his hand on Roman's shoulder, "Of course he cares, Roman, we all care. Logan's just trying to help." 

"We need to figure it out who did it." I added. "And then deal with that person."

"How?" Asked Remus. "Are you planning to kill whoever it is? You realize it's one of us, right?" 

"We'll worry about that when we get there." Logan said quickly.

"Exactly," said Deceit, "let's take it one step at a time. For now, alibis." 

Logan nodded, "Should I start?" 

"Sure." Said Deceit. 

"I was in my room, reading a science textbook." 

"Do you have anyone that can confirm it?" Asked Deceit. 

Logan shook his head, "No." 

Deceit nodded, "Alright. I was reading a book in my room. I don't have anyone to confirm it either." 

Logan nodded, "Roman?" He asked. 

"Drawing." 

"Virgil?"

"I was in my room reading." I said.

"Remus?" 

"Also in my room." Said Remus. 

Logan sighed and looked down at his paper, "This isn't good." He said. "None of us have someone to confirm our alibis. Any one of us could be lying." 

"So what do we do now?" I asked. 

"I don't know." He said. 

"Let's say who we think it could be." Said Deceit. 

Roman looked up at him, "You want us to accuse each other?" 

"It's the only way." Said Deceit. "We don't need to make a final decision now."

"Should we go around the table?" Asked Logan. 

Remus shrugged, "Why not?"

Logan nodded, "Alright." He turned to Deceit. "I think you are the most likely." 

I stood up, "That's ridiculous! Deceit would never kill anyone!" 

Honestly, I had no idea who it was, but I didn't want to believe that it could be Deceit. I had always been close with him, and if he had killed Patton. . . I didn't want to think about it. 

Deceit put his hand on my shoulder, "It's fine Virgil, let him finish." 

I sat down and crossed my arms. 

Deceit turned to Logan, "Why do you think it's me?" He asked. 

"I didn't say that I think it's you." Said Logan. "I said that you seem most likely. As to why, you were the first to find him, and what were you doing in the basement in the first place? You also seem the most calm. Roman is too loyal, and Remus is bad at keeping secrets. If it were him, we would already know. Virgil is too anxious to kill someone, let alone Patton. He would be too worried that someone would find out and that we would hate him for it. Therefore, you are the most likely."

Deceit nodded, "I see." He looked around at the rest of us who were all looking at him . "Am I supposed to have a counter argument? Because I don't believe I do."

Logan shrugged, "It's not necessary." 

Deceit nodded, "Then let's move on. Roman?" 

Roman looked up at him, "What?" 

"You're next." 

"Oh." Roman looked around. "I don't know." He said. "None of us would kill him."

"It's fine." Said Logan. "You don't have to accuse anyone if you don't want to."

Roman nodded, "I won't then."

"Alright." Said Logan. "Deceit?" 

Deceit looked around, his eyes finally landing on Logan. 

"Maybe you, Logan." He said. "You're even calmer than I am, and you had an accusation for me that seemed almost as if it was prepared in advance. I'm not sure about Roman and Remus, and I have reasons to believe that it wasn't Virgil."

Logan nodded, "Is that all?"

"Yes." Deceit turned to me, "You're next, Virgil." 

I looked around.  _ How can they be so calm while accusing each other of murder?  _ I wondered.  _ Would any of them really kill Patton? No. Of course not. We all loved him. But then again, it had to be one of us. Could it be Remus? He is the most violent, but if he was to kill anyone it wouldn't be Patton, and like Logan said, he's bad at keeping secrets. Roman? No, he seems more torn apart than any of us, and he wouldn't kill anyone either. With his chivalrous attitude, murder would be the last thing he would do. Deceit? No. It can't be him, he would never- that isn't a good reason. Could it be him? No. Of course not. He would have been more sneaky about it. He would have framed someone, or made it look like a suicide. _ _And that leaves._ . . 

"Virgil?" Said Logan. "You still haven't said anything."

"Logan." I said. 

Logan blinked, "What?" 

"You're the most likely." I said. "I ruled out everyone else."

Logan frowned and glanced at Deceit. Then he turned to Remus. "Remus?" He said. "What about you?" 

"I'm with Roman." Said Remus. "I have no idea." 

Logan nodded, "Alright."

"What now?" Asked Roman. 

"Well to sum it up, we have two accusations for me, and one for Deceit." Said Logan. 

"But we still don't have any proof." I added. 

Logan nodded, "Right, and until we have any, we won't be able to decide anything. 

Deceit sighed, "Let's just rest for now. We're all in shock, and we'll be thinking clearer in the morning."

We all said goodnight to each other and slowly drifted to our rooms. 

I couldn't fall asleep that night. I lay in bed staring at my ceiling for hours.  _ Who is it?  _ I thought over, and over again. _ Who would kill Patton? And why? There had to be a motive, right? Is it Logan? Why would he want Patton dead? And if not him, who else? Deceit? No, not him. Then who? Remus? Roman? What if the killer decides to murder the rest of us?  _

__ I turned over and buried my face in my pillow.  _ I need to sleep. Like Deceit said, we'll be thinking clearer in the morning.  _

__ Finally, hours later, I fell asleep. Then I had a dream. 

I was standing in a dark room. I took a step forward and heard a splash. I crouched down and felt the ground. I could feel a warm liquid lining the floor. Suddenly the room was filled with light. I gasped. I was sitting in a pool of blood, and it was coming from. . .

"Deceit?" 

I scrambled forward and shook him, "Wake up!" 

He wasn't waking up, why wasn't he waking up? 

The doors to the room opened, and Roman, Remus, and Logan walked in. 

Logan looked down at me, "It's you." He said. 

My eyes widened, "No- No, I didn't- "

Remus smiled, "Caught red-handed!" He said. "You know we're going to kill you for that, right?" 

I shook my head, "No! No, I didn't- I wouldn't- "

"We trusted you." Said Roman. "Why did you kill him? And Patton? Why?"

"I didn't- I swear, I don't- "

"Yes you did." Said Logan. "You killed both of them. Look, you're even holding the knife." 

I looked down at my hands. I was holding a bloody knife. How did it get there? My hands were covered in blood. 

"Why did you kill him?"

"I trusted you, Virgil." 

"How could you?"

"Patton trusted you."

"We all trusted you." 

I put my hands over my ears, "Stop! I didn't- I can't- "

Their voices just grew louder. Louder and louder. I could feel their eyes on me.

"We hate you, Virgil." 

"You're going to die for this."

"We're going to kill you for this."

"We would still kill you, even if you didn't."

"We don't care."

"Why can't you just leave?"

"We trusted you- "

I woke up gasping for breath. My heart was beating quickly. 

_ Deceit. Is he. . . I need to check. What if he's dead?  _

I stumbled out of my room and ran to his door. I knocked. There was no answer. 

_ Is he- no. He can't be. It was just a dream.  _

_ What if he is and they find me with him?  _

__ I knocked again and this time the door opened. 

"Virgil?" Deceit asked. "What- "

I stared up at him.  _ He's alive.  _

__ My heart beat wasn't slowing down. 

Deceit's eyes widened, "Oh no. Come here, sit down." 

He led me into his room and sat me down on the bed. 

"Deep breaths." He said calmly. "It's okay." He took my hands. "Breath in slowly."

I inhaled slowly.

"Remember," He said, "breath in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven, then breath out for eight."

I tried to focus on my hands that were being held in his. I could still see flashes of my dream. There was blood everywhere.

"Virgil, look at me." 

I looked up. 

"It's okay. Take deep breaths. It's going to be fine." 

I inhaled slowly. 

_ One, two, three, four.  _

I held my breath. 

_ One, two three, four, five, six, seven. _

Then I exhaled.

_ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. _

I repeated it until I could feel my heart rate start to slow. 

Deceit smiled, "Feeling better?" 

I nodded. That's when I realized I had been crying. I quickly wiped the tears from my face. 

"What happened?" Asked Deceit. 

"I- " 

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again. I shook my head. 

Deceit pulled me into a hug, "It's okay." 

A while later I finally pulled away, "Alright. I'm good." 

Deceit frowned, "Are you lying to me?"

I smiled, "Only partially." 

"Do you want to talk about what happened? It's fine if you don't want to." 

I nodded slowly, "I had a dream." 

Realization passed over Deceit's face. He was used to my nightmares by now.

"I was in a dark room." I said. "And then the lights went on, and you were there, and. . . And you were dead."

"Oh." Said Deceit quietly.

"Then the others walked in and they said that I killed you, and that I killed Patton." I looked up at him. "I didn't kill Patton, I promise. You have to believe me." 

Deceit smiled, "Don't worry, I do. You're the last person I would suspect." 

I smiled, "Really?" 

"Yes." 

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. 

"Thanks." 

Deceit raised an eyebrow, "Thanks?" He asked. "There's nothing to be thankful for. You're the least likely to have killed him. I don't think anyone suspects you." He sighed. "Not that the same can be said for me." 

I glanced away, "You didn't, right?"

"You know I didn't." 

"Yeah. You would've been sneaky about it." 

Deceit blinked, "What?" 

"You would probably have framed someone." I explained. "Or done something else to make sure we wouldn't suspect you." 

Deceit frowned, "Yeah." His eyes widened. "Then. . . " He faltered.

"Then what?" I asked. 

"Nothing." He said. Then he smiled. "We should get some sleep." 

I glanced at the door. I didn't want to leave. I definitely didn't want to be alone.

Deceit seemed to read my mind. "You can sleep here." He said. 

I smiled, "Really?" 

"Of course. Just like when we were little, remember?"

"Thanks."

Deceit smiled, "Don't mention it." 

He got into bed and turned off the lights. I crawled in next to him. 

_ I'm not going to lose him. That's for sure.  _

__ Before I knew it, I was asleep. 


	3. A Change of Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is mention of suicide in this chapter. Read with caution.

I woke up to Deceit gently shaking me awake. 

I sat up, "I'm awake, I'm awake." I muttered. 

That was when Roman, Remus, and Logan burst into the room. 

"Virgil! There you are!" Said Logan. "Your bed was empty and we got worried." 

Remus raised an eyebrow at me, "So what are you doing here?" 

"I had a nightmare." I explained quickly. "I didn't want to be alone in my room." 

"Sure, I'll believe that." Remus muttered under his breath.

Roman elbowed him. 

Logan rolled his eyes at the twins, then turned to me and Deceit, "Come down to the dining room when you're ready. I'm making breakfast." 

Half an hour later we were sitting at the table, eating in silence. 

Remus looked up, "The food is really good Pat. . . " His voice died in his throat. "I mean, Logan." 

No one spoke. Then Roman burst into tears. 

Remus wrapped his arms around his crying twin, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He said. "It's just that he usually makes breakfast, and- " He continued rambling his apology.

Logan stood up, clearly wanting to get away from the concentration of emotions that was now dominating the table. "I'll clean up." He said quickly. 

"I'll help." Said Deceit, standing up as well. 

I glanced at Roman and Remus, then jumped up to help the two of them. It only took a moment to get everything of the table. 

"What are we gonna do?" Said Remus suddenly. 

Everyone turned to him.

"What?" Asked Logan from where he was standing by the sink. 

"We still have no idea who killed Patton!" Said Remus. 

Logan sighed and sat down at the table, "There's nothing we can do." He said. "We don't have any more evidence."

"So? We're just going to sit around and wait for us all to be killed?" 

"We don't know if that will happen." Said Deceit. "We have no idea what the killers motives are."

Remus didn't seem satisfied with that answer. He jumped up, "Do any of you even care?!" He yelled. "Patton's dead! And you're all acting like it doesn't even matter!" 

Logan blinked, looking taken aback by Remus's outburst. "Don't be ridiculous, Remus." He said quietly. "Of course we- "

"Then start acting like it!" Remus turned and ran from the room. 

After a moment Roman stood up and dried his tears, "Should I- "

Logan shook his head, "Give him some time to calm down." 

Roman sighed and sat down, "What are we going to do?"

Logan didn't answer for a moment. "I hate to admit it," he said, "but I have no idea." He glanced at Deceit, then stood up. "I'm going to my room. I need to think." 

"Me too." Said Roman. 

Logan looked like he was about to say something, but then shook his head and they walked off together. 

After a moment Deceit sat down next to me, "Do you still think it's Logan?" He asked. 

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting that.  "I. . . I guess." I said. "Well it's not that I think that it's him, it's just that- "

"He seems most likely." Deceit finished. 

I nodded, "Yeah." 

"He's not." 

I stared at him, "What?" 

"He's not most likely." Said Deceit. "I was thinking about what you said last night, about how if it were me I would have framed someone, or done something to make sure that no one would suspect me. The same thing applies to Logan. He wouldn't have been so sloppy." 

I frowned. He was right. Logan would have been more careful. 

"Then who would it be?" I asked. 

He looked at me, "What do you think, Virgil?"

I sighed, "Roman or Remus? But neither of them would do it. I keep feeling like I'm forgetting to consider something. Maybe. . . "

_ Maybe it really is you.  _ I didn't add. 

Suddenly my eyes widened, "It could still be Logan."

Deceit frowned, "What?" 

"Maybe he did it like that so we wouldn't think it was him. This could all just be him framing someone." 

Deceit frowned, "Reverse psychology." He muttered. 

I stood up, "I'm going to my room." I said. "I need a break."

He looked up, "Do you want me to come with you?" 

"No." I said quickly.

I turned and walked away from him, trying to ignore his surprised and almost hurt expression.

I walked into my room, locked the door, and collapsed on my bed. 

_ What if it is Deceit? What if he did the same thing that I just suggested that Logan had done? But he would never kill Patton, right? And he wouldn't lie to me. It has to be Logan. There's no other option.  _

I grabbed a book from the floor and opened it. I needed to distract myself. 

Three hours later there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Logan and Deceit standing in front of me with grim expressions on their faces. Roman was standing next to them looking confused, as if he didn't quite know what was going on. I felt a shiver run through my body. 

"Where's Remus? I asked. I had a feeling I already knew. 

Logan led us to Remus's room and opened the door. 

There he was. Lying lifelessly on the floor. Roman crumpled to his knees and began to sob. 

I walked over to the body. _Is the murderer trying to kill all of us?_

"How?" I asked. 

"It looks like strangulation." Said Logan. 

I turned to him, "You found him?" I asked. 

Logan nodded.

"When?" I asked. "How?"

"I wanted to check in on him." Said Logan. "He didn't answer when I knocked so I opened the door. I found him here."

I frowned, "I have no reason to believe you." I muttered. 

Deceit turned to me, "Virgil. . . " 

"What? We're supposed to be suspicious, right?" I crossed my arms. "Remus was right. We should have been trying harder." 

Deceit didn't say anything. 

Logan sat down next to Roman and put his hand on his shoulder, "What do we do with the body?" 

I sighed, "The same thing we did with Patton." 

An hour later we were sitting around the dining table. 

Roman hadn't stopped crying. 

"Our list of suspects is the same as yesterday." Said Logan. "Only Deceit and I have been accused." 

"I don't think it's you." Said Deceit casualy.

Logan blinked, "You don't? You seemed quite sure of yourself yesterday."

"Not anymore. If you were to murder anyone you would have framed someone else. Or probably made it look like suicide, so that no one was suspected in the first place. It doesn't add up for you." 

"He could have done it like that on purpose." I said. "So that we wouldn't think it was him."

Deceit glanced at me then turned back to Logan, "I stand by what I said."

I stood up, "Listen to me, will you? We already talked about this! It could still be him!" 

Deceit looked at me, "I don't think it is. I understand what you think, but I still think it doesn't make sense for him to have killed Patton and Remus." 

Logan frowned, "Do we know that it was the same person?"

"Yes." Said Deceit. "They both seemed as if they weren't planned. As if it was a moment's decision." 

Logan nodded, "Or, as Virgil said, the killer could have wanted it to seem like that. I still think you're the most likely, Deceit." 

Deceit nodded, "Think whatever you want." 

Logan turned to me, "Do you still think it was me?"

I nodded, "I think you're most likely." I said quickly. Then I turned to Deceit. "If you don't think it was Logan, who do you think it could have been?"

Deceit looked away from me. "Roman." 

Roman looked up, "What?"

Logan frowned, "That doesn't make sense." 

"It does. Especially if it was partially an accident."

Roman shook his head, "I didn't. I promise, I didn't." 

Logan crossed his arms, "It makes no sense for him to be the killer, Deceit. He would have had no incentive."

"And I do?" Interjected Deceit. 

"Yes, actually." 

Deceit rolled his eyes, "And what would that be?"

Logan raised an eyebrow, "I believe you know what I'm referring to." 

Deceit looked confused for a moment. Then he stood up and glared down at Logan. "I trusted you with that information, Logan. Don't you dare say it here." 

Logan shrugged, "I won't. But I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason behind their deaths." 

I glanced at the two of them, "What information?" I asked.  _ What would Deceit tell Logan that he wouldn't tell me?  _

"Not important." Said Deceit quickly. 

Logan sighed, "We're straying off topic." He said. "I still don't believe that Roman was the one to kill them, but my suspicions for you are only growing. It makes sense that you would jump to another suspect in order to convince me to stop accusing you."

Deceit glared at him, "You know it's not me, Logan. You just don't want to admit that you might be wrong."

"You're the one who's wrong, Deceit." I said. "It can't be Roman. Like Logan said, he had no incentive." 

Deceit turned to me, "Oh, now you're siding with him?" He snapped. 

I took a step back. He had a glare in his eyes that I'd never seen before.

Roman stood up, "We can't keep fighting." He said. 

Everyone turned to him. 

"Patton wouldn't have wanted that." He continued. "He wouldn't have wanted us to fight."

Deceit's expression softened, "You're right. I'm sorry." 

"No, I should apologize as well." Said Logan. He turned to Deceit, "I'm sorry for dismissing you."

Deceit nodded. 

Roman sighed, "We all need a break." He said. "Let's rest for a bit." 

We all nodded in agreement. Roman and Logan left the room. I was about to follow them when I heard Deceit's call my name. 

"Virgil?" 

I turned to him, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you." He said.

I smiled, "Don't worry about it." 

He nodded and starred at the floor. A moment later he looked back at me, "You don't think that I killed them, right?"

I faltered, did I? "No, I don't." I said quickly. "I'm pretty sure it's Logan." 

He smiled, "Right. Good." 

I muttered something about needing rest and quickly went to my room. I sat down on my bed and sighed. I'd said that I thought it was Logan, but honestly, I had no idea.  _ It could be him, or it could be Deceit.  _

_ What will I do if it's Deceit?  _

I put my head in my hands. It could very well be him. 

A couple hours later Roman called us into the living room to watch a Disney movie. 

"I think we could all use some happiness." He explained. 

We agreed, and sat on the coach to watch. I was hardly paying attention to the movie. My thoughts kept drifting to the worst possible scenario. 

_ What if it's Deceit? What if he kills me next?  _

I stood up, "I'm going to bed." I announced.

Roman pouted, "Come on, we're not even halfway through."

"It's fine," I said, "finish without me." 

I walked to my room and collapsed on the bed. I hugged my pillow and felt tears start to form in my eyes. 

_ It can't be Deceit. It can't be him. Right? It has to be Logan.  _

__ I fell asleep with tears still on my face. Then there was another nightmare. 

I was walking to Logan's room. I opened the door. 

_ He's dead.  _

But he wasn't murdered. He was hanging on a noose from the ceiling. There was a note on the floor. 

"Virgil?" 

I spun around to find Deceit and Roman standing behind me. 

"I didn't kill him!" I said. "I promise!"

Deceit walked into the room and picked up the note. 

He turned to me, "It's your fault." He said matter-of-factly. 

Roman glared at me, "Maybe if you didn't accuse him of murder he would still be alive." 

I stared at him, "What?"

"He's dead because of you, Virgil." Said Deceit. "It's quite simple." 

I backed away from him, "No, I didn't mean too."

"It had to be him, right?" Said Roman. "There's no other option! He had to be the one to kill them! Isn't that what you said?"

"I didn't- "

Deceit walked up to me, "We don't need you anymore." He said.

I woke up in cold sweat. My hands were shaking. 

_ I need to check on Logan.  _


	4. The Force of Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this one gets sad

_I need to check on Logan._

_No. That's ridiculous. He's fine._

_Maybe._

I stood up and walked to the door. 

_This is stupid. He's fine._

I shook my head. I needed to check. Just in case. 

I walked to his room and knocked on the door. It was almost immediately opened by Logan. 

I stared at him. 

"Are you okay?" I asked.

His glasses were lopsided, his hair was a mess, he had visible bags under his eyes, and. . . Why did his eyes look watery? 

Maybe he was. . . No. Logan never cried. 

He straightened his glasses and ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm fine." He said. "Can I help you?" 

I frowned, "You're obviously not. Did you sleep at all?" 

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he sighed, "I haven't been able to. I was thinking." 

I crossed my arms, "It's not like you to stay up." 

Logan wouldn't meet my eyes, "I know. But I kept thinking that maybe. . . " He shook his head. "Nevermind." 

Something was definitely off. 

"Sorry about earlier." I said.

He looked confused, "Earlier?"

"You know, when I accused you."

He looked even more confused. "Why are you apologizing? I was under the impression that the whole point was to accuse each other in order to figure out who the killer is." 

I blinked. He was right. Of course he was. 

"Anyhow, I have nothing to fear from your accusation." He continued. "After all, I know that I'm innocent." 

I sighed, "I don't know that." 

He nodded, "That's correct." 

I looked up at him. He really did look like he had been crying. 

"Can we talk inside your room?" I asked. Maybe then I could really figure out if it was him or not. 

To my surprise Logan looked slightly uncomfortable at the idea, "I don't think now would be a good idea." He said. "Maybe tomorrow."

I frowned, "Are you hiding something?" I asked. 

He swallowed, "No."

"You're lying." I said immediately. "Come on, what's so bad?" 

He glanced inside his room and sighed, "You'll see. Come on." 

I stepped into his room and looked out at the mess in front of me. Logan's room was always neat and organized, but now there were pieces of ripped and crumpled paper thrown across the floor. There was an open book with pages ripped out of it open on the desk, and pencils broken in half. There was another book with its cover torn off lying on the floor, and a shattered glass that looked like it had been thrown against the wall. 

I looked at Logan, who was standing next to me, staring at the floor.

"What happened?" I asked. 

He walked to the desk and closed the book that was laying on it, "Nothing. You shouldn't worry about it." 

"Obviously I should." I walked over to him and turned him to look at me. "What's going on?"

He shook his head. 

"Logan, please, you can talk to me. You realize that you don't have to do everything yourself, right?" 

Logan sat down on his bed. His lower lip started to quiver. Then he started to sob. 

I stared at him. _He really was crying before, wasn't he?_

I sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. I wasn't completely sure what to do. I wasn't used to being the one comforting someone. 

After a couple minutes he pulled away from me and dried his tears. 

"Sorry." He said. "That doesn't usually happen." 

"It's fine." I said. "You don't have to apologize."

He nodded. 

"So now are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked. 

He looked around at his mess of a room, "I got frustrated." He said. "I thought I had figured it out, and then I wasn't sure, and then. . . " He sighed. "I don't even know what's true anymore." 

I looked at him. 

"It's not you." 

He looked at me in confusion, "What?"

"You didn't kill them." I said. "It couldn't have been you." 

He frowned. "So you're changing your decision?" 

I nodded, "It doesn't make sense. You wouldn't be acting like this if it was, and you've never been good at lying. To just make all that stuff up about Deceit doesn't make any sense for you." 

He smiled, "I'm happy to see that you've come to your senses." 

I rolled my eyes. 

"So if it's not me, who is it?" Logan asked. 

"I don't know." 

"Do you not know? Or do you just want to believe that it isn't?"

I stared at the floor

"It has to be him or Roman." I said. "You said that you could think of an incentive for Deceit. What is it?" 

Logan didn't answer for a moment. "I'm afraid that's between me and him." He said. 

"But if I knew it would help me figure it out." I said. 

He nodded, "I know. But if he finds out that I told you, then I could very well be the next to die." 

I sighed, "Fine." 

"You still haven't answered my question." Said Logan. "Who do you think it is?" 

I stared at the floor. He was right. I didn't want to believe that it could be him. 

"He said that he didn't do it." I said quietly. 

"Does that mean anything?" 

I didn't want to answer. _Of course it doesn't. He could have lied to me. Would Deceit really lie to me?_

"He could have lied to you." Said Logan, seemingly reading my mind. 

I finally looked at him, "It really is him." 

He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry. I know you didn't want to consider that he could- "

"I considered it." 

He blinked, "You did?" 

"How could I not?" 

He smiled, "You're smarter than I thought."

I rolled my eyes, "Wow, thanks." 

"But something has been bugging me." He said. "Why did you come here in the first place? It's the middle of the night." 

I looked away from him, "That's not important." 

He crossed his arms, "I know that you're lying, Virgil."

"No you don't." I grumbled. 

He raised an eyebrow. 

I sighed, "Fine. I had a nightmare."

He frowned, "Don't you usually go to Deceit when that happens?"

"Yeah, but. . . I wanted to check on you."

He looked even more confused now, "Check on me? Why would you- " He thought for a moment. "Oh. I see." 

I wondered if he actually knew. It wouldn't be surprising if he'd figured it out. 

I stood up, "I should go. We both need to sleep."

He nodded in agreement. I walked to the door. Then I paused and turned back to him.

"Promise me you'll go to sleep, okay?" 

He smiled, "I promise." 

I nodded, "Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Virgil."

* * *

The next morning I walked into the kitchen to find Logan making coffee. I sat down at the table and waved to Deceit, who was sitting on the other side. 

He nodded at me, but didn't say anything. 

That's when my conversation with Logan pushed into the front of my mind again. I glanced up at Deceit. His hair was a mess, and he looked tired. Had he slept at all last night? Maybe he was thinking of how to kill the rest of us. 

_Did he really kill Patton and Remus? Yes. It had to be him. Maybe I should just ask him. But he would just deny it. Maybe he wouldn't if it was me. He could be caught off guard. But I can't ask him alone, he would probably kill me. Now would be perfect._

I took a deep breath. _What should I say?_

That's when Deceit interrupted my thoughts. 

"Thanks for the coffee, Logan." He said. 

"No problem." Logan answered.

I looked up and glanced around. How many minutes had passed? Roman was now sitting next to me, and both Logan and Deceit were holding cups of coffee. 

Deceit lifted his cup and drained half of it. 

Logan raised an eyebrow at him, "Tired?" He asked.

Deceit nodded, "I hardly slept last night. But it's not as if you're not one to talk, you don't look too great yourself." 

He was right. They both looked exhausted. 

Logan took a sip from his coffee. He frowned, as if the taste was off. He took a couple more gulps and set it down. His eyes widened. 

"Logan?" I asked. "Are you okay?" 

He made eye contact with me. I could tell that his breath seemed to be coming in short gasps. He slowly shook his head. 

Deceit put his hand on Logan's shoulder, "Logan, what- "

Logan doubled over into a coughing fit. When he finally glanced up at me, there was blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes were wide. He looked scared. 

He opened his mouth, as if to say something. Then he gasped and collapsed. Deceit caught him as he fell out of his chair. 

Roman stood up, "What's wrong with him?" He asked. His voice sounded shaky. 

Deceit layed Logan down on the floor and put his hand against his mouth. 

He looked directly at me, "He's not breathing." 

I stared at him. Deceit stood up and took Logan's coffee cup. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. 

He looked up at me and Roman, "Cyanide." He said. "He was poisoned."

Roman walked over to Logan and sat down on the floor next to him. He looked like he was about to cry. Then he glanced up at us. 

"It's just us left." He said. 

I looked at Deceit, who was glancing between Roman and Logan. 

"You killed him." I said. 

He looked at me in surprise, "What?" 

"It was you." I said. "It has to be." 

He shook his head, "Virgil, it's not me, I promise." 

"Why should I believe you?" 

His eyes widened in shock. He took a careful step towards me, "You. . . Don't you trust me?"

I shook my head, "Not anymore." 

He looked down at Logan, "You talked to him didn't you?" 

I nodded. 

He looked back at me, "What did he say?"

"Not much. I mostly came to the conclusion myself." 

He swallowed, "You did?"

"Yeah." I said. "You can drop the act now. I know the truth."

He looked back down to where Roman was sitting on the floor next to Logan. Then he looked back at me and something changed in his face. His eyes got colder, his expression hardened. He didn't look angry, Just cold. Distant. Almost. . . I took a step back.

"Fine." He said. 

He walked past me out of the dining room.

I didn't relax until I couldn't see him anymore. 

I sat down on a chair and sighed. Roman sat down next to me. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

I shook my head. "No." 

He put his head in his hands, "What are we gonna do?" 

"I don't know." I said. "It really is him. Right?"

I looked at Roman, who sighed. "I don't want to believe it, but it has to be." 

I nodded, "It's not like there are many options left." My eyes drifted to the dead body on the floor. "Maybe if I had just believed him earlier." 

Roman nudged me, "Don't think like that. There's no use dwelling on things that you can't change." 

I smiled, "You sound like Logan." 

He stared at the floor again. He looked like he was going to cry. 

"Sorry." I said quickly.

He looked back at me, "Don't worry, I'm fine." 

That was a clear lie. 

I looked at the doorway that Deceit had walked out of. 

"He looked different." I muttered. 

Roman frowned, "What?"

I blinked, "Sorry. It's just. . . Deceit. You saw it too, right? How his expression shifted." 

Roman nodded. 

I sighed, "I've never seen him like that before."

Roman frowned, "Never?" 

"Yeah." I blinked. "No. No, I have." 

Roman looked confused, "When?"

I turned to him, "Yesterday. When he was arguing with Logan. Well. . . It was almost the same. He looked angrier then. Now he looked more. . . " I tried to find the right word, "Distant."

"Distant?"

"Yeah." 

I stood up, "I need to think." 

I walked to my room and closed the door behind me. 

_Logan was right. He was right the whole time._

I sat down on my bed and felt tears start to spill from my eyes. 

_First Patton, then Remus, now Logan. Who's going to be next? Roman? Me?_

I layed down on my side and hugged my pillow. 

_I just want Patton back. I want to see him again._


	5. Rising Suspicion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There are spiders.

There was a loud knock on my door. 

I sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. It was already evening. I guess I had fallen asleep.

There was another knock. 

I walked to the door and opened it to find Deceit standing outside. 

I felt my heart start to speed up. _Why is he here? Is he going to kill me?_

"What do you want?" I asked him. It came out sounding more hostile than I had intended.

He sighed, "I just wanted to tell you that dinner's ready."

I glared at him, "What, are you going to poison me too?" 

He looked like he was about to say something, but instead his expression hardened again. Then he turned and walked into his room, closing the door behind him. 

I walked into the dining room to find Roman putting food onto three plates. 

He turned to me and looked confused, "Where's Deceit?"

"He went to his room." 

Roman nodded. He handed me a plate and we sat down to eat. 

I looked over to the spot on the floor where Logan was this morning.

"What did you do with. . . " I nodded in the direction of it. 

He stared down at his plate. 

"I couldn't get a hold of either of you." He said. "So I. . . Well, the same thing we did with the others."

I nodded. 

Neither of us said anything after that. A few minutes later Roman stood up and put his plate on the counter. He hadn't eaten anything. 

He turned to me, "I'll be in my room." He said. Then he walked away. 

I looked down at my plate and sighed. I couldn't eat, either. 

I looked across at Roman's empty seat. I couldn't believe that it had only been two days since Patton had died. He had changed so much. He was nothing like the fun, bold, sometimes extremely annoying boy I used to know. Now he was quiet, fragile, and scared. I used to think that I would give anything for him to be quiet. Now I just wanted to hear him make a joke. Or to laugh. When was the last time I heard him laugh?

I smiled. It was the morning before Patton died. When he had made pancakes. It felt like a lifetime ago. 

It was just two days ago. And already, half of us were dead. 

I put my head in my hands as I felt tears start to form in my eyes. _I just want everything to go back to normal._

That's when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Deceit sitting next to me. 

I pushed his hand away and quickly dried my tears. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, glaring at him. 

He rolled his eyes, "I was just making sure that you were okay." 

I glared at him, "Really? That's the best excuse you could think of?" 

"I'm telling the truth, Virgil." 

"Sure you are." 

He stood up and I saw his eyes get colder again, "Fine." He said. "You don't want my help? Good luck finding someone else to comfort you." 

Then he turned and left.

I stared down at the table. It was starting to scare me how quickly he would go back to that cold, distant expression. _Maybe I shouldn't_ _have accused him yesterday. But why did he change so much just because of that? He wasn't like that when Logan said that it could be him. So why did he react so much when I. . ._

 _Oh._ It suddenly hit me. _I said I didn't trust him anymore._

I put my head in my hands. _I ruined everything, didn't I? I shouldn't have said it like that. Roman said that we should work together. Now look at us. We're a mess._

_It's my fault._

I shook my head and stood up. Maybe I was just tired. I headed back to my room and got ready for bed. 

Apparently, going to sleep wasn't that easy when you had already slept for the majority of the day. So instead, I layed in bed staring at the ceiling. 

_I miss Patton._

I shook my head. If I started thinking about that I would start crying again. Right now I just need to sleep. I rolled into my side and shut my eyes.

_I miss Logan._

_I miss Remus._

I felt tears start to form in my eyes. _Am I going to lose Roman next? I've already basically lost Deceit._

_I pushed him away, didn't I?_

I wiped the tears from my eyes, their trails stinging my face. 

_I just want to sleep. Why can't I just sleep?_

The tears kept falling. I shakily got up and pulled something from my dresser. It was a grey sweater. I had taken it from Patton years ago. It was too late to give it back now. 

I returned to my bed and hugged it. It had lost his scent a while ago, but it was still comforting. Almost as if he was there. 

The tears were stinging my eyes. 

_I just want to sleep. Why can't I just sleep?_

_I miss Patton._

_Deceit was right. There's no one left to comfort me._

I layed down on my bed, still hugging the sweater. 

_Is Roman going to be next? Or me? What if it's me?_

_At least I'll get to see them again._

_Patton, Remus, Logan. Logan. I had really thought it was him. I never got to tell him how sorry I was._

I swallowed. The tears wouldn't stop. I closed my eyes. 

_I'm tired. I want to sleep._

I fell asleep still crying. 

And then came another nightmare. 

I was standing at the edge of a pit. There were faint voices coming from it. I felt something on my shoulder and tried to turn around, but I couldn't move. Then I heard someone speak next to me.

"Don't you want to see what's down there?" 

I managed to turn my head and saw that it was Remus. I tried to speak, but no sound came out. 

"Well?" He asked. "Do you want answers or not? I'm not letting you down there until I get an answer." 

I still couldn't speak. 

He smiled, "Alright. I'll take you down." 

He pushed me and I fell over the edge. I kept falling for what seemed like forever. Finally I landed in a room. 

It was empty except for a clock covered in spider webs that was hanging on the wall. The hour hand was moving way too quickly for a normal clock. I sat down on the floor and waited for something to happen. Suddenly I was in a different room. It was brighter, and had a sort of comforting warm glow. There were pictures on the walls. I looked at one of them. There were six people, but I couldn't quite make out their faces. They seemed familiar. 

I looked up from the picture and saw Patton standing on the other side of the room. He was holding something. 

"Patton?" 

He turned to me and frowned, "No. Not here." 

He snapped his fingers and the room dissolved. 

I was back in the first room, but it had changed slightly. The clock had gotten bigger and was now ticking loudly. And the floor seemed to be moving. 

No. It wasn't the floor that was moving. It was covered by thousands of spiders that were scurrying around. 

They started crawling up my legs, covering me in their webs and sinking their fangs into me. I opened my mouth to scream. No sound would come out. They started to pull me down until I was kneeling on the floor. I tried to break free from them but I was frozen in place. 

I saw a shadow move towards me. I glanced up to see Logan. 

"Wake up." He said. 

I tried to say something to him, and found that there were spider webs covering my mouth. 

"Wake up." He said again. Louder this time.

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. Everything was starting to get blurry. 

I felt Logan's hand on my shoulder and my vision cleared. 

"You need to leave." He said. "You won't find any answers here." 

I blinked, and suddenly I was lying awake in my bed, my heart pounding. I switched on the light and glanced at the clock. 

3:17 am. 

I sighed and lay back down. Could I fall asleep again? Probably not. I didn't want to be alone, but who could I go to? It's not like I could talk to Deceit. 

_Roman_. 

_I can go to Roman._

I stood up and walked across the hall to Roman's room. I knocked on his door. There was no answer. 

I knocked again. After a few seconds he opened the door. 

He looked confused, "What are you doing here?" 

I didn't know if I wanted to answer him. Would he laugh at me?

Even without me saying anything, he seemed to understand. "Nightmare?" He asked.

I nodded. 

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do. 

"Do you want to come in?" He asked. 

I sighed, "Is that okay?"

He smiled, "Sure." 

I followed him inside and we sat down on his bed. I looked around the room. It looked even messier then when I had seen it last. 

"So what was it about?" He asked. 

I blinked, "What?"

"Your dream." He said. "Pat. . . " His voice faltered. "I've heard that talking about it can sometimes help." 

I nodded, "Right."

It felt awkward telling it to him. I was starting to wish I had stayed in my room. 

He nudged me, "Come on, I won't judge. Remus used to tell me about his weird dreams all the time." 

I smiled, "Really? That must have been interesting."

He shuddered, "Disturbing, more like. Well, come on. I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards."

I sighed, "Alright. At the beginning I was standing next to a dark pit. And then Remus was there, and he asked me if I wanted to see what was inside. He said something about there being answers there, then he pushed me over the side." 

"He pushed you over the side?" Interrupted Roman. "Wow." 

I nodded and continued, "Then I was in a dark room. It had this weird clock that was going really quickly. Then suddenly I was in another room, and Patton was there."

Roman stared at the floor. 

I frowned, "Roman? Are you okay?"

He looked up at me and smiled, "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." 

I crossed my arms. "I can tell that you're lying. Tell me the truth."

He looked away from me and the smile melted from his face. He sighed, "I'm not okay. I just. . . " He glanced at me. "Nevermind."

I smiled, "You know you can tell me, right?"

He wrapped his arms around himself. "I just miss him. Patton. And Remus. And Logan. And can't stop thinking about them. I. . . " He stared at the floor again. "I don't think I'll ever be happy again." 

I stared at him. He really had changed a lot, but not in a good way. 

I hugged him. "It'll be okay." I said. 

I could hear him start to cry, "No it won't." He said. 

I let go of him and put my hands on his face, making him look at me. 

"Listen to me, Roman. We both miss them, and it's true that we'll never get them back. But we have to try to survive, right? It's what they would have wanted."

He let out a shaky laugh, "Since when are you good at comforting people?" 

I smiled, "I guess I learned from. . . "

I didn't finish my sentence. 

"Deceit?" He asked.

I nodded. 

"He used to comfort you a lot, right?" Said Roman. "Whenever you had a nightmare or something." 

I nodded again. 

"You guys were really close, right?" 

I bit my lip. I could feel the tears welling up again. Before I knew it I was sobbing uncontrollably. 

He stared at me. 

"Sorry, sorry!" He said frantically. "I shouldn't have brought him up." 

He pulled me into a hug. After a while he let go and I dried my tears. 

"I don't think I've ever seen you cry before." He said. 

I nodded, "I don't usually cry in front of people." I said. "Well except for. . . " 

I didn't finish but he seemed to understand. 

"Right." He said. 

We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. 

I stood up, "I'm gonna go back to my room." I said. "I should probably get some sleep." 

Roman nodded, "Okay." 

I walked to the door and turned back to him. "Roman?" 

He looked up at me, "Yeah." 

"Thanks. I feel a bit better now." 

He smiled, and waved as I walked out the door. I went back to my room and switched off the light. 

I layed down on my bed and closed my eyes. Soon after, I was asleep.

* * *

The next morning I walked into the dining room to find Roman and Deceit sitting at the table. 

Roman looked up at me and smiled, "I made pancakes."

I nodded and sat down. Deceit glanced up at me then went back to staring at his coffee. 

After a few minutes of silence I turned to Deceit, "Roman cooked for us. The least you could do is eat some."

He shook his head and continued to stare down at his untouched plate. Roman glanced between us like we were two bombs that could explode any minute. 

"So. . . What should we do today?" He asked. 

Deceit stood up and put his plate in the kitchen. 

Roman looked up at him, "You're leaving already?"

He nodded, "I'm clearly not wanted here." 

"That's not true!" Said Roman quickly. 

"Yeah, it is." I said. 

Deceit looked at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead bit his lips and stared at the floor. Then he turned and ran from the room. 

Roman turned to me, "You shouldn't have said that." 

I crossed my arms, "What, you want me to lie to him? Why should I want him here? He killed them."

Roman sighed, "Still. Don't you miss being friends with him?" 

I blinked, he'd caught me off guard. I shook my head quickly. "Of course I don't."

Roman didn't look like he believed me, "Right. Obviously." 

He sighed and stood up, "I'll be in my room." 

He turned and walked away, leaving me alone at the table. 

I frowned, that was weird. _Why is he suddenly so defensive of Deceit? Is he still hoping that we'll work together?_

I stood up and put my plate in the sink. _I should go talk to him._

I walked to Roman's room and knocked on the door. 

He opened up looking confused, "What's going on?" He asked. 

I shrugged, "You were acting weirdly. I just wanted to make sure that everything's fine." 

"Oh. Yeah." He smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

I frowned, "Are you lying?" 

He shook his head, "No, of course n- "

"Tell me what's wrong, Roman." 

He sighed, "I don't know, it's just. . . Seeing you guys act like that towards each other. It makes me think . . . " He trailed off. 

I frowned, "Think what?" 

"Nothing." He glanced into his room. 

A realization struck me, "Do you think I killed them?" 

He blinked, "What?" 

"That would explain why you were so defensive of Deceit." I said quickly. "Because you think that I'm accusing him for nothing." 

He shook his head, "No, I don't think it's you!"

I blinked, "You don't?"

"Of course I don't! I know it can't be you." 

"Then why were you so defensive of him?"

He sighed, "I just hate seeing you two fight."

"Oh." I stared at the ground. That was kind of my fault.

He smiled shakily, "It's fine, Virgil, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah." He glanced away from me. "I think I just need to be by myself for a bit."

I could see his lip start to quiver. He was going to cry. 

I stepped forward, "Roman, I can help." 

He stepped away from me, "No, I'm fine. Seriously. Just. . . Give me a second." 

He closed the door in my face. I put my hand on the doorknob, wondering if I should open it. I could hear Roman start to cry. _Should I try to comfort him? He told me not to, but. . ._

He seemed like he really needed someone. _It's never good to be alone._

I heard a door open behind me. 

I spun around to see Deceit stepping out of his room. Our eyes locked. 

His hair was a mess, and his eyes looked irritated. He was staring at me, frozen in place, like he was waiting for me to do something. 

I took a step towards him, "Deceit, are you- "

He slammed his door shut. 

I stared at his closed door. I wanted to find out what was going on with him, but Roman. . . I glanced at Roman's door. He had told me that he wanted to be alone, but he was probably lying. I looked back at where Deceit had been just a minute ago. He looked almost scared. Why was he scared? 

I froze as a realization struck me. 

He was scared of me. 

_Well that settles it._ I walked over to Deceit's room and knocked. 

There was no answer. I couldn't hear anything either. I knocked again and this time his door flew open. 

Deceit glared down at me, "What do you want?" He asked. 

I took a step away from him, "I just wanted to see if you were okay." 

He frowned. Then he started laughing. 

I'd heard him laugh before, but this was nothing like it. He sounded like there was one more string that was holding his mind together, and it had just snapped. 

He looked back at me, a half smile painting his face, "You wanted to see if I'm okay? Isn't that sweet." 

It took all my willpower not to turn from him and run to my room. "Deceit," I said shakily, "what's going on with you?" 

He looked at me like he couldn't believe I was asking him that, "What's going on with me?" He said. "You should know, shouldn't you?"

I took a step away from him and shook my head. 

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Why are you backing away?" 

I could feel my heart racing. 

He looked confused for a moment. Then he laughed. It was the same laugh I had heard just a moment ago, but this time it seemed colder. 

"You're scared of me, aren't you, Virgil?" He said.

I was backed against the wall. My hand was on the handle of Romans door. 

Deceit stepped towards me, "Are you scared I'll kill you?" He asked. "Or poison you?" 

I could feel my breathing start to quicken. 

Something flashed across Deceit's face. It almost seemed like worry. Then he glared at me and it disappeared. 

"Just leave me alone." He said. 

Then he stepped back into his room and slammed the door. 

I sank down to the floor and tried to slow my breathing. 

Suddenly I felt the door behind me open and I fell backwards into Roman's room.


	6. Through Obscured Eyes

I stared up at a very confused Roman from my awkward position on the floor. 

"You good?" He asked. 

I quickly stood up, "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" 

He frowned, "What do you mean?" 

"You kind of closed the door in my face before. After insisting that you were fine." 

He stared at the ground, "Right. Sorry about that." 

"It's fine." I said. "Just. . . You can tell me when something's wrong, okay?"

He didn't answer for a moment. Then he smiled, "Right."

There was an awkward pause. Then Roman motioned into his room, "Do you want to come in for a second? There's something I want to ask you." 

I blinked, that was weird. "Sure." I said.

I walked into his room and sat on his bed for the second time in two days. He closed the door and sat down next to me. 

"So what did you want to ask?" I prompted. 

He sighed, "I heard you and Deceit." 

I stared at the floor, "Oh."

"It sounded like he was mad at you." He turned to me, "Is everything okay? I mean, actually. Don't lie to me."

I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. 

"Come on Virgil, you told me that I should tell you if something's wrong, so I think it goes without saying that you should do the same." 

I sighed, "What's there to say? Of course I'm not okay." 

He nodded, "Of course you're not. That was a stupid question."

I smiled, "It's okay. Neither of us are good at comforting people." 

He laughed, "I guess you're right." 

I smiled slightly, his laugh was a nice contrast to Deceit's. I shuddered as I remembered that sound.  _ He really snapped, didn't he? Is it my fault?  _

"Virgil?" 

I snapped back to attention as I heard Roman say my name. 

"You kind of spaced out." Roman explained. "I said your name like three times."

"Oh. Sorry." 

He shrugged, "It's fine. What were you thinking about?" 

"Nothing." 

He crossed his arms, "You know you can tell me." 

I stared at the ground again. What exactly was I thinking about? 

"I think I broke him." 

Roman stared at me. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. 

"What?" He asked. "Broke who? What are you talking about?" 

"Deceit." I explained. "Something changed when I accused him, and just now. . . I think he finally snapped."

Roman didn't seem to know what to say. 

"Is it my fault?" I continued. "I probably could have been better about it, but then again, I can't forgive him for killing them, and. . . " I put my head in my hands. "I don't know." 

I felt Romans arms around me, "It'll be okay." He said. 

I sighed, "Really?" 

Roman didn't say anything. Then he pulled away from me. 

"No." He said. "It probably won't. I don't know what's gonna happen next. I don't know what Deceit will do. Honestly, I don't know anything." He looked at me and smiled. "But you know what I do know? I know that no matter what happens, you'll survive. Cause that's what you do. You somehow manage to push through everything, no matter how difficult it is."

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting a pep talk. 

"Since when can I push through stuff?" Was the only thing I managed to say. 

He laughed, "Since always." 

I frowned, "Really? That doesn't seem right." 

"I promise you it is." 

I shrugged, "Whatever you say, Roman." 

Suddenly he stood up, "I have an idea." 

"What?" 

"To get our mind off of stuff. What if we try to bake?"

I stared at him, "Roman, that's a terrible idea. We're gonna burn everything." 

"No we won't." He assured me. "Come on, it'll be fun." 

Before I could say another word he dragged me out of the room. We walked into the kitchen and he pulled a cookbook from the shelf. 

"I'm thinking cookies." He said. "What about you?" 

I shrugged, "I don't really care." 

He opened to a page and smiled. He looked at it for a moment then handed it to me. 

He didn't need to explain. It was a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with various words and sentences scribbled all over it, in what I could clearly tell was Patton's handwriting. 

I looked up at Roman, "I think I know what we're making." 

We started to attempt the recipe. Roman managed to drop three eggs on the floor while trying to carry five from the fridge, even though the recipe only called for two. He also managed to knock over a carton of milk, spilling most of it. When we had finally managed to mix the dough, he pulled out a tray. 

"Okay, so we need to put it on this." He said, setting the tray on the counter. 

"Did you butter it?" I asked. 

He blinked, "Was I supposed to?" 

I sighed, "Did you even read the recipe?" 

He didn't say anything. Then he started to laugh. I stared at him as a smile slowly cropped across my face. He was actually laughing. Joyfully. 

He looked up at me, still laughing, "You looked so annoyed!" He said. "I don't think I've seen you like that since that time Remus tried to make you sing!" 

I crossed my arms, "Well I'm happy my annoyance is bringing you joy. Are you gonna butter the pan, or not?" 

He rolled his eyes, "Okay, Dr. Gloom. If you insist." 

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, but to be honest, I wasn't that annoyed by it. 

Some time later the cookies were ready. Roman tried to grab one and ended up burning his hand. He then waited impatiently for them to cool off. Finally, when they weren't burning hot, he took one and bit into it. 

He smiled at me, "They taste exactly like how Patton used to make them." 

I nibbled at my own, he wasn't wrong. Then I realized something. 

"You don't tear up when you hear his name anymore." 

He froze. 

I blinked, "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have said that." 

He smiled, but it wasn't quite joyful anymore. "It's fine." He said. 

I nodded and continued to eat the cookie. 

"Should we ask Deceit if he wants any?" Asked Roman. 

I set my cookie down. Suddenly I wasn't that hungry anymore. 

Roman frowned, "Virgil?" 

I sighed, "You can if you want." 

Roman glanced away from me, "Right. I guess you wouldn't really want to talk to him."

"No it's not that." I said quickly. "It's just that. . . " I sighed. "He scared me." 

Roman blinked, "Scared you?"

I nodded, "How he acted. And what he said. It just made me think. . . " I looked at Roman. "What if he kills me?" 

Roman stared at me. Then he shook his head. "No." He said. "Deceit wouldn't do that to you." 

"How can you be sure? He probably hates me by now." 

"No he doesn't." He said quickly. 

I sighed, "You don't know that." 

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he handed me my barely eaten cookie. 

"Here." He said. "Cookies always make people feel better." 

I took it from him, "Thanks." 

I took a bit from it. He was right, it did make me feel better, and it reminded me of Patton. But thinking about Patton didn't make me happy exactly. 

"So what do you want to do now?" Roman asked me. 

I shrugged, "I don't know." 

He took a couple of cookies from the counter and put them on a plate, "I think I'll leave these outside of Deceit's door." He said. 

He walked out of the room, leaving me alone. I stared at the floor.  _ Is he right? Does Deceit really not hate me? I don't see why he wouldn't, after how I've been treating him for the past two days.  _ I heard Roman walk back into the room. 

"Virgil? You okay?" He asked. 

I looked up at him, "I really messed up, didn't I?" 

He blinked, "Messed up what?" 

"With Deceit. Think about it. He wasn't like that when Logan accused him, but when I did. . . "

"Well you two did it pretty differently." Said Roman. 

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess we did." 

"Also, you're different from Logan." Roman continued. "He's closer to you, so it probably hurt him more than when Logan said it." 

I glanced up at Roman, "How much did you think I hurt him?" 

Roman shifted uncomfortably, "Well. . . I don't know." 

"It was a bit justified, right?" I said. "I mean, at this point it has to be him. He didn't even deny it. So I had every right to be mad, didn't I?" 

Roman shrugged, "I guess when you look at it that way."

I stared at the currently empty table, remembering what had happened there yesterday morning. 

"Do you think it would be different if Logan was still here?" I asked. 

Roman didn't answer. 

"I mean, then I wouldn't have said it like I did, and he would have probably been able to get us not to fight and. . . " I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe if I had just believed him sooner none of this would have happened." 

Roman still didn't say anything. I glanced over to see him crying. 

My eyes widened, "Roman I'm so sorry I didn't mean to- " 

"No, it's fine!" He said, quickly drying his tears. "It's nothing, don't worry. Just. . . Thinking about Logan." 

I wiped a tear from his face. Then I froze, realizing what I just did. 

I quickly pulled my hand back, "Sorry." I said. 

He stared at me. Then he started to laugh, "It's fine! It's fine!" He said, still laughing. 

I smiled slightly, it was good to see him happy. 

"But seriously, sorry." I said. "I didn't mean to do that." 

He rolled his eyes, "I said it's fine, Virgil. I appreciate the gesture."

That was when Deceit walked into the room. He looked at the two of us, then his eyes locked on me. I backed away slightly. 

"Can we help you?" Asked Roman.

Deceit glanced at Roman, "I doubt it." He said. 

He brushed past us and got a glass from the cupboard. He started to fill it with water. 

I swallowed. There was something I needed to do. 

"Deceit?" I asked. 

He didn't look up at me, "What?" He asked. 

"I just. . . " I took a deep breath. "I want to apologize. For how I've been for the past two days. Even though you did. . . Well, you know. But still, it's only us three left and- "

"Save it." 

I blinked, "What?" 

He shut off the water and turned to me, "I said save it." 

Roman stepped forward, "Come on Deceit, he's trying to apologize." 

Deceit raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh, isn't this ironic." He said. Then he turned and left the room. 

After he was gone I turned to Roman, "Well, I tried." 

He sighed, "Yeah. But I don't think there's any fixing this." He blinked. "Sorry, that was harsh." 

"It's fine." I assured him. "You're probably right anyway." 

He nodded. After a moment he turned to me, "I'll be in my room if you need me." 

I nodded, and he walked out of the room. 

_ What do I do now?  _ I thought.  _ I could go talk to Deceit, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not.  _

__ I sighed and walked to my room. I opened the door. Then stopped and glanced at Roman's room, but my eyes ended up drifting to a door at the end of the room. Logan's.

_ Well it's not like I have anything better to do. _

I closed my door and walked up to Logan's. After a moment of hesitation I opened it and stepped inside. 

It was way neater than when I had seen it last. There were no more books strewn across the floor, no more ripped pages on the desk, and the glass that had seemed to be thrown at the wall was nowhere to be found.  _ That means that he must have stayed up cleaning.  _ I realized. 

I walked up to the desk and found a small stack of papers lying on it. I picked the top one up and started to read it. It had each of our names on it, except for Patton's and Logan's, and under each one there were various things written in Logan's handwriting. 

_ A suspect list.  _ I realized. 

I sat down on his bed and started to read. Under Deceit's name there was the most written. 

_He was the first to find Patton's body,_ it said, _but I'm not sure if that works against him or for him. If he is the murderer, wouldn't he not want to be the one to bring the death to our attention? But what was he doing in the basement in the first place? He believes it's me, and though his argument wasn't too strong, Virgil seemed to believe him._ Under that was written, _Today he accused Roman. He said that it would have made sense for it to be a spur of the moment decision, or an accident, but he didn't sound so sure. It was almost as if he was grasping at straws to try to make us believe him. This just convinced me more that Deceit is, in fact, the murderer._

My eyes drifted over to where my name was written. 

_ I have no reason to believe that Virgil was the one to kill Patton.  _ It said.  _ I feel that he would be too guilty about it to hide it from us, and he isn't one to lie. He's the least likely in my mind. It's disappointing that he thinks that I'm the murderer. I believe we could work quite well together, otherwise.  _

__ The words underneath it were slightly smudged. They were hard to read, but not impossible.  _ Even with Deceit believing that it's Roman, he still accuses me. It may be very hard to convince him otherwise.  _

__ I looked at Remus's name. It was scribbled out, making it impossible to read anything. I then looked at Roman's, there wasn't much there. 

_ He has a very loyal nature, so it doesn't seem like he would be the killer, but like Remus, I don't understand him very well. But I do know that if he did kill anyone, it would have to be accidental. I don't know what his motive would be otherwise.  _

I started to look through the other papers in the stack. On one there was a list of possible motives for each of us. The majority were scribbled out, but I could make out one word written under Deceit's name. 

_ Virgil  _

I stared at it.  _ Why would I be a motive for Deceit to murder someone?  _ I thought. I looked closer to try and read the rest of the sentence but couldn't. I shook my head and looked at the rest of the papers. There was one with information about the deaths of both Patton and Remus. It looked like he had been trying to find a connection. 

For Patton's was written,  _ Deceit brought us to the body at 6:02 in the evening. It seemed like he had already been dead for a couple hours. He was killed by loss of blood caused by being hit in the back of the head with a metal rod.  _

__ I looked at Remus's name.  _ I found him at 2:35 PM. It couldn't have been more than an hour since he had been killed. He was strangled in his room.  _

There were other words scribbled on the paper but they were too messy to read. I took a pen from the desk and looked back down at the paper.  _ Should I?  _ I wondered. I took a deep breath and started to write. A minute later I read over what I had written. 

_ Logan. Poisoned with cyanide at around 10:20 in the morning.  _

__ I sighed and put the paper down. There wasn't any possible connection that I could see, and if Logan hadn't found any, I doubted that I could. I formed the papers back into a neat stack and left the room, closing the door behind me. I walked to my room and sat down on the bed. I glanced over at the book I had been reading before Patton had been murdered. Logan had lent it to me. I picked it up, and continued reading it. 

A few hours later I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find Deceit standing outside. 

"I want to say something." He said. 

I crossed my arms, "Yes?" 

"I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier." He said. "And I'm sorry for everything that might happen now." 

I blinked. "Everything that might happen?"

He sighed, "It's just that. . . If this goes how I think it might, then. . . " He trailed off. 

I stared at him, "What are you talking about?" I took a step away from him, "Are you going to kill me, too? Or Roman?" 

He glared at me, "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" 

He met my eyes and I froze. He didn't look angry or disappointed like I'd seen him several times over the past two days. Instead he just looked sad, or even a bit scared. 

He looked away from me, "Nevermind." He said. "It probably won't happen anyway." 

"What won't happen?" I asked. "You're not making any sense, Deceit." 

He sighed, "Just forget it." 

Then he walked away from me, and into his room. I closed my door.  _ He was acting really off. What was he talking about?  _

I sat down on my bed.  _ Is he going to kill Roman? No. If he kills Roman then I'll know for a fact that it's him. He wouldn't be stupid enough to do that.  _

_ Right?  _

_ Right. He might be a murderer, but he's still smart.  _ I glanced back at my door.  _ Maybe I should go to Roman. Just in case. _

__ I shook my head,  _ No. I don't need to. _

I grabbed my book and continued to read it. I needed to distract myself. 

Not even an hour later I put it down. I couldn't focus. I stood up, I needed to go check on Roman. I left my room and walked across the hall to Roman's. I knocked twice and both times there wasn't an answer. 

"Roman?" I called. "I'm coming in." 

I walked in and froze. Roman wasn't there, but Deceit was. He was lying on the floor, bleeding from multiple stab wounds in his chest and throat. I ran over to him and grabbed his wrist. No pulse. 

_ He's dead.  _

I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes. Suddenly everything made sense. What he had said earlier, his reactions to everything for the past couple days, the way he'd looked at. . . 

_ I was wrong. Logan was wrong. It wasn't Deceit. But that means it's. . .  _

I stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes.  _ Where is he?  _ I ran from the room and into the dining room. There he was. 

Roman was sitting at the table looking over a stack of papers. He had blood splatters on the hands and face. 

"You." I said. 

He didn't look up. "Me." 


	7. Alone together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mention of suicide.

I tried to steady my breathing, "Why?" I asked. 

Roman looked up at me, "I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't- "

"Why?" I repeated. 

He flinched and stared down at the table, "I didn't want to." 

I walked over and sat down across from him, "You're going to tell me everything." I said. "From the beginning."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he looked back at me, "Did you ever think it was weird? How we were just six boys in a locked house? No adults, no contact with the outside world. It's a bit weird, right?"

I blinked, that had taken me by surprise. "I guess." I said. "I never really thought about it. What does that have to do with anything?" 

"I found out the truth." He said. 

"The truth?" I asked. "You can't be serious. This is probably like an orphanage or something." 

"An orphanage with no adults?" He said. 

I sighed. "Fine. What did you find out?" 

"We're an experiment." He said. "Some people brought us here as babies. They wanted to see how we would develop with no one else around." 

I stared at him. _An experiment? Is he serious?_ "How do I know you're telling the truth?" I asked. 

He passed the stack of papers that he had been reading over to me, "See for yourself." 

I started reading the papers. He wasn't lying.

A small group of scientists that put us here with only some minimal artificial intelligence to see if we would develop into normally functioning humans. They were going to release us into the normal world when we were all twenty years old, to see how we would adjust. The rest of the papers were reports on us. They had our chosen names, how well we were learning, our relationships with each other, any arguments that had happened, all in great detail. According to one of the papers there were cameras everywhere, except for the basement. 

_Could Roman be faking it?_ I thought. _Maybe he wrote all this himself._

_No. He couldn't be. There's stuff in here that he would have no way of knowing. That means it's true._

I looked up at him, "How could someone do this?" I asked. "Just leave us here? For an experiment?"

He flinched away from me, and that when I realized that I had raised my voice. 

I took a deep breath, "Sorry."

"It's fine." He said. "I was angry too, when I found out." 

"But what about our parents?" I said. "What happened to them? Were we taken? Or are we orphans?" 

Roman sighed, "Look at the last page." 

I flipped to it. 

"'Details of parentage'?" I read. I began to look over it. Half way through I looked back at Roman. "This can't be true." 

"It is." 

I shook my head, "No. Who would- " 

"Face it, Virgil. They gave us away. They knew perfectly well what was gonna happen to us, and they gave us away." 

I stared at him. Then looked back at the paper, "And all from different people. Except for you and Remus. How would that many parents. . . How could anyone do that?" 

He shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe they just didn't care about us." 

"But for an experiment? How- " I stared at the papers in front of me. "You're right. They didn't care." I looked back up at him. "Where did you find all of this?" 

"I was exploring." He explained. "I found a small door. I went in and I found this there. It was in a briefcase."

I frowned, "You just found it? That doesn't make sense. That seems really careless of whoever left it there. It's almost like. . . " My eyes widened. "Oh." 

"Almost like what?" Asked Roman. 

"Like it was put there on purpose." 

Roman stared at me, "On purpose? Why?" 

"To see how we would react, maybe? I don't know." 

Roman stared at the papers that were hardly in a neat stack anymore, "On purpose." He repeated. 

I nodded, "It could be." I signed. "This is off topic. Why are you telling me all this? You still haven't told me the reason you killed them." 

He took a deep breath, "Okay. I'll start from the beginning. I told Patton about all of this. I brought him down the basement because that's the only place where they don't have cameras. And then he wanted to tell everyone else. He wanted to figure out how to escape. But. . . I was scared. I didn't want to do that. I thought that they might find out and kill all of us."

"So you killed him." 

He looked up at me, "I didn't mean to." He said. "But I was so scared about what would happen, I just. . . I lost control. I hit him with that rod and then. . . " He swallowed. I could see tears welling up in his eyes. "I didn't mean to kill him. I really didn't." 

"What about the rest of them?" I asked. "Why would you kill Remus of all people?" 

"He figured it out." Roman said. "He somehow saw that I was acting off and he figured out that I killed him." Roman looked up at me. There were tears streaming down his blood splattered face. "I thought he was going to kill me, Virgil! I'd never seen him like that before! And before I knew what was happening I. . . " He didn't finish the sentence. 

"Logan." I said. "He was different. Poisoning him couldn't have been an accident, it had to have been planned." 

Roman didn't answer for a moment. "I didn't want to kill him." He said quietly. "I was going for Deceit." 

I stared at him, "Deceit?" 

He nodded, "He had figured out that it was me, and even though no one believed him I. . . I thought that soon you would. So I tried to poison him. But I got nervous, and I mixed up the cups. When he died, I was so scared. I thought that it would make you believe Deceit, but. . . But then you accused him." 

I stared at him, "If I had just believed him. . . "

"No!" Roman said quickly. "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault." 

"Deceit." I said. "Why did you kill him? If you didn't I would have continued to think it was him!" 

Roman didn't meet my eyes. "He came into my room." He said. "I knew that he thought it was me, but I didn't know if he would do anything about it." 

"So, why?" I asked. "It doesn't make any sense." 

"He wanted me to tell you." Said Roman. "He blamed me for you thinking it was him, and I guess in a way it was my fault. But I didn't want to tell you. If you know it was me. . . I didn't know what you would do. I was so scared, and I had a knife on my desk and I . . . I stabbed him. I didn't even realize what I had done until it was too late." He looked up at me, tears were still running down his face. "I'm sorry, Virgil, I didn't mean to! I was scared that he would hurt me! Or that you would! I'm just a coward, that's all I am! If I had just trusted Patton, and told the rest of you, none of this would have happened! But I was so scared, I'm sorry!" 

I was frozen in place. I wanted to comfort him but. . . _He killed them. He's a murderer. He shouldn't be comforted, he should feel the pain that he put all of us through._

_But he didn't mean to. And he's sorry._

_That doesn't matter. He still killed them._

_But it was accidental._

_What about Logan? He was going to kill Deceit then. He planned it._

"Virgil?" He said quietly. 

I looked up and met his eyes. 

"You can do whatever you want to me." He said. "I deserve it. Do you want me to die? I'll die if you want me to- "

"Roman." 

He froze. There was fear in his eyes. _Does he really think I'm going to hurt him? I should. He deserves it._

I took a deep breath, "I don't want you to die." I said. 

His eyes widened, "You don't?" 

"You're the only person I have left." I said. "Everyone else is gone and I don't want to be alone. Obviously I can't forgive you, but. . . I'm not going to kill you. Or hurt you in any way. Okay?" 

He wiped the tears from his eyes, "Really?" 

I nodded. 

He sighed and put his head in his hands, "I really thought you wanted me dead. And everyone else, I thought. . . Remus. He really looked like he was going to- "

"Remus would never want to hurt you." 

He shook his head, "You're wrong." 

"I'm not." 

He sighed and stood up, "I'll be in my room." He paused as he seemed to remember what was currently in there. "What should we do with. . . " He didn't finish the sentence. 

I swallowed as I felt tears start to form in my eyes. _He's really dead._ I stood up quickly. 

"What we always do." 

A few hours later I was sitting in my room. We had burned Deceit's body, just like we had with the rest of them. I couldn't sit still. I kept getting up and pacing around my room. _Roman killed them. All this time it was Roman. If I had just believed Deceit. . ._ I shook my head, I couldn't go down that train of thought again. I needed something to distract myself. I walked out of my room and glanced over to the one next door. _Maybe. . ._ I took a deep breath and stepped into Deceit's room. 

It was neat, as usual. There were an excessive amount of pillows and blankets on the bed, the majority of them yellow, with a couple purple ones. Roman had always told him that the colors clashed, but he didn't seem to care. There was a bookshelf in the corner, and a desk with a couple notebooks and a letter on it. 

_Wait, a letter?_

I picked it up and nearly dropped it. It had my name written on it. I opened it and began to read. 

_Vigil,_ it said, _if you are reading this, then that means that Roman has killed me. I'm about to go confront him in an attempt to get him to tell you the truth, but I'm not sure it will work. It would be quite a stupid move for him to kill me, seeing as then you would know that he's the murderer, but seeing as how he did everything else, I wouldn't put it past him. So just in case, I'm writing this to you._

_The main thing is to not blame yourself for my potential death. You chose to trust Logan over me, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's mainly my fault for not trying to convince you otherwise. I was angry that you didn't trust me, and I acted based on that. I'm sorry. In the event that I die, try not to do anything rash, whether it's to do with Roman or not (I believe you know what I'm talking about, and I'm begging you, if my words don't help, think of what Patton would want)._

_Just know that I don't hate you, as much as it may seem like it, and that this isn't your fault. Deal with Roman as you see fit., I couldn't care less what happens to him, but please be careful about what happens to you._

_-Deceit_

I read the letter over a couple more times. _He didn't hate me? He had every right to._ I read it over again. _Try not to do anything rash._ I sighed. _Did he really think that I'd. . ._ I shook my head. _He probably didn't think I would. He was just being cautious._

 _I won't, right?_ I pushed the thought away. _Of course I won't, what am I thinking?_

I glanced down at the bottom of the letter, there was something else that looked like it had been quickly written and then crossed out. 

I folded the letter and put it in my pocket. _What am I going to do? I'm stuck here with Roman. He killed everyone. Even Deceit._

Deceit's words from two days ago drifted into my head, _good luck finding someone else to comfort you._

_He was right, wasn't he? Now there's no one left._ A realization struck me. _I was doomed as soon as I stopped trusting him._

I sat down on his bed as my eyes started to sting. _I can't cry again. That'll be the second time today._ Even as I thought that, I felt tears start to fall from my eyes. I stumbled over to Deceit's cabinet and pulled a sweater from it. _It smells like him._ I sank back onto his bed, and curled up, hugging the sweater. I closed my eyes. I could almost imagine him there. 

_He's not here. He's gone._

 _But I don't have to think about that now. Maybe for a bit, I can pretend that he's still alive._ I sat up and put the sweater on, grabbed one of the larger pillows, and layed back down, closing my eyes. Not much time later, I was asleep.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of a glass shattering against a wall. I sat bolt upright, my heart pounding. Where did it come from? 

There was only one thing it could have come from. Roman. _But why is he-_ My train of thought got cut off by the sound of a book being slammed against a door. I flinched and covered my ears. The noise continued. I curled up in bed and tried to block them out, but nothing worked. A couple minutes later it finally it stopped. I let out a sigh of relief. 

Then there was a scream. I froze. It sounded like a cry of pure agony. 

_Maybe I should go check on him?_

_No. I can't. I don't think I can help him at this point. But even so. . . I don't want to. What if he does something?_ I swallowed. _I'm scared of him. Why am I scared of him?_

_Maybe because he killed Patton. Maybe because he killed everyone but me. Maybe because he just threw several things against his walls. Maybe because he's dangerous._

I blinked. Did I just think that? I didn't, right? Roman wasn't dangerous, he was just scared. I crawled under the blanket. _I should just stay out of his way._

* * *

I woke up at noon. I looked around. _I'm in Deceit's room. Where is he?_

Yesterday's events flooded into my head in a series of painful recollections. _He's dead. Roman killed him. Roman killed all of them._

I stood up and felt something in my pocket. _Oh, right. The letter._ I took it out and read it again. _Try not to do anything rash._ I nodded. _Right._

I walked to my room to change and wash up. Afterwards I went to the dining room. _Where's Roman? Maybe he already ate breakfast._

I pulled a bowl from the cabinet and poured myself some cereal and milk. I ate about a spoonful but then didn't feel hungry anymore. _Where's Roman?_ I shook my head. _There's no reason to worry. He's probably in his room._

_Where's Roman?_

I jumped up and ran to his door. I knocked and heard no answer. I tried the handle and the door swung open. 

_I found Roman._

He was hanging from a noose in the middle of the room. There was a note on the floor. Just two words. 

_I'm sorry._

I stared up at him. _I'm dreaming, right? He can't actually be dead._ I walked up to him and grabbed his hand. It was ice cold. 

_I'm alone._


	8. Lost Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mention of suicide/cutting wrist

I stared up at Roman's dead body hanging from the ceiling. 

_He's gone. There's no one left._

I stood up on a chair and took him down from the noose. _Another body to burn._

An hour later there was nothing left. 

I sat in my room. _Why don't I feel sad? He's gone, and I'm all alone. I should be miserable._ I ran my hand through my hair nervously. _I don't feel anything. I just feel numb._ I sighed and laid down on my bed. _I want to feel something._ I stood up and walked to the kitchen.

_No one's here._ I blinked. _Of course no one here, they're all dead._ I glanced over to one of the drawers. It had knives in it. Logan always had insisted that we keep them sharp, because a dull knife could be more dangerous. 

An hour later I was sitting on the couch, blankly staring into space. Everything was so silent. I hated it. I absentmindedly rubbed my arm. It hurt. 

I shook my head and jumped up. _I can't just sit here the whole day._ I walked to the door of my room. Then thought for a moment and walked to Patton's door. _Should I go in?_ I sighed. _It's not like there's anyone to stop me._ I stepped inside and took around the pastel colors that made up his room. Almost everything was either some shade or light blue or pink, the bed was hardly made, and there were some pieces of paper and crayons strewn across the desk. I walked up to them and picked up one of the papers. It was a messy drawing of six multicolored stick figures, which I assumed were all of us. 

I smiled, _he never did have much artistic talent. That was more Roman's department._

_Roman. . ._

I shook the thought from my head and turned to a wall that was covered in photographs. There was one of Logan looking very annoyed, probably by the fact that someone was taking a picture of him. There was one of Remus hanging upside down from the fridge as Deceit was attempting to get something from it. I picked up one of them. It had all of us in it. Patton was smiling his usual big smile and had his arms wrapped around Logan, who looked like he was attempting not to laugh. Roman and Remus were standing back to back with their arms crossed, I was looking at the camera, surprisingly, and Deceit was smiling the most content smile I'd ever seen on his face. But he was hardly looking at the camera, instead his focus was on. . . 

_Oh._

Suddenly a couple things clicked in my head. _Why didn't he tell me?_

I sighed and sat down on Patton's bed. _I'm never going to see any of them smile again._ I realized. _What am I going to do? Everyone's dead._ I looked around Patton's room, my eyes landing on the various photographs tapped to the walls. _Maybe I can just stay here. Lost in all these memories._ I fell down backwards into the bed. 

_Why did Roman have to die? Is it somehow my fault? I should have checked on him when I heard those noises in the middle of the night. Maybe I could have stopped him._ I pulled Deceit's letter from my pocket. _This isn't your fault._ That's what he wrote. _But he was talking about his own death, not Roman's._ I stuffed it back in my pocket. It wasn't helping. 

I rolled over onto my side and felt tears start to slowly form in my eyes. 

_I'm alone._

* * *

The next couple days passed in a blur. As they dragged on and on I lost almost all sense of time, and ended up going to sleep and waking up at different times each day. Most of the time I would fall asleep in Patton's room, flipping through the almost endless collections of photo albums. 

A week later I woke up somehow in my own bed. I glanced at the clock. 10:04 am. That was a normal time to wake up. I stood up and yawned. 

"Patton's probably making breakfast already." I muttered.

. . . 

_Patton's dead._

I shook my head, "No he's not, that's ridiculous. Who would want to kill Patton?" 

After getting dressed I walked to the kitchen and started absentmindedly making pancakes. After a few minutes I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I gasped and pulled my hand away from the stove. I'd managed to burn it when I wasn't paying attention. I could almost hear Patton telling me to be more careful.

After the pain subsided I finished making breakfast and set up six plates. I served myself and sat down to eat. 

"Thanks Patton." I said. 

_He's dead. Who am I talking to?_

"Patton. I'm talking to Patton." I stared down at my plate. "He's not dead." I added. "I just saw him, didn't I?" 

After I finished eating I cleaned up the plates. 

"I think I'll finish that book you gave me, Logan." I muttered. "I haven't read it for a week already." I blinked. "Why didn't I read it?" 

I felt something nagging at the back of my mind. I glanced over at the chair where Logan usually sat. 

"Coffee." I muttered. "I didn't make coffee." 

I walked to my room. I was about to open the door, but then paused and glanced over at the door across from mine. 

"I wonder what Roman's doing." I muttered. Then I shook my head. "No, not him." I walked over to Deceit's room and opened the door. 

"Sorry for not knocking." I said quickly. 

I sat down on his bed, grabbed one of his pillows, and hugged it.

"Where do you think Patton is?" I asked. "I didn't see him for a while." I sighed. "You probably haven't seen him either. I don't think anyone has. It's like he disappeared." 

I stared blankly at the wall across from me. "You won't disappear, right?" I said. I sighed and laid down on the bed. "Where is everyone?"

* * *

One day later I stepped into Logan's room. 

"Where's Remus?" I asked. "I thought maybe he'd be with you." 

I glanced over to the desk, where there were a bunch of papers in a stack. "What are all of those for?" I asked. I started to walk over to it. Then stopped. "Nevermind. I'll leave you to your secrets. You probably wouldn't want me to find out anyway." 

* * *

Three days later I was sitting in Deceit's room. 

"You've been quiet recently." I said. "Same with everyone else. I still don't know where Patton and Remus went."

I took one of his pillows and hugged it, "I'm starting to think I'm missing something. Everything seems slightly off." I was silent for a minute then added. "Logan disappeared. First Patton, then Remus, now him. Something's going on and I don't know what." 

_Ask Roman._

"Ask. . . " I shook my head. "No. What if he- " I blinked. What was I going to say? 

I layed down on his bed and smiled. "I know you'll always be here." I said. "You wouldn't go anywhere." 

A few hours later I was sitting on my bed reading a book. I glanced over to my side table to see a letter on it. I frowned, it had my name written on the back. I picked it up and began to read it. 

_Vigil,_ it said, _if you are reading this, then that means that Roman has killed me._

I stared at it. _What?_

"He's not dead." I muttered. "I just saw him." 

_It's Deceit's handwriting._

I saw flashes of images in my head. Patton in a pool of blood, Remus lying lifelessly on the floor of his bedroom, Logan coughing up blood, Deceit with stab wounds in his throat, and Roman. . . 

_Roman._

I stood up and ran to his room, throwing the door open. I walked to the desk and picked up the small, handwritten note with only two words written on it.

_I'm sorry._

I set it down. _They're all dead._ _What am I doing?_

I sat down on Roman's bed and immediately burst into tears. _They're gone. They're all gone. What am I going to do? Just wait here by myself for years?_

I glanced around Roman's room. _I can't stay here._

I stood up and went to my own room, immediately collapsing on the bed. 

_I don't want to be alone._

I opened one of my drawers and glanced inside it. There was a small knife lying at the bottom. A thought crept into my mind. I slammed the drawer shut. _What am I thinking? I can't do that._

_Why not? It's not like anyone will stop me._

I looked back at the drawer. _Deceit asked me not to._

_Deceit isn't here anymore. Neither is Roman. Do I really want to spend my life alone?_

I opened the drawer and slowly took out the knife. _If I do this there's no going back._

_I don't want to go back._

I sliced the knife across my wrist. 

My eyes widened. _What am I doing?_ I grabbed my wrist in an effort to stop the bleeding. _I don't want to die._ Could feel tears start to form in my eyes again. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Why didn't I listen to him?_

I could see my vision blurring. My grip slackened. I felt my head hit the floor. Then everything went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....  
> Sorry?


End file.
